I thank the Deputy for raising this issue. I am committed to improving outcomes for people with a disability. I announced a number of measures to support them in budget 2024, including a €400 lump-sum payment in November, a Christmas bonus double payment in December, a cost-of-living bonus payment in January and a €12 increase in the maximum personal rate of weekly disability payments. The free travel scheme is being extended to people who are medically unfit to drive. In addition, the Taoiseach has placed a major …

As the Deputy knows, the cost of disability crosses the remit of a number of Departments, encompassing transport, housing adaptation grants and access to services, including healthcare. Income supports are only part of the solution. The disability groups were not happy with the Green Paper. We have to go back to the drawing board, which we are doing by way of the Cabinet committee. We will take learnings from the Green Paper. I do not have a timeline for action because the Green Paper was rejected. The Cabinet comm…

I published the Green Paper and consulted widely. People did not want it.

That was it. I took it off the table. The Cabinet committee is now in place. As I said, it is not just about income supports. There are 1.1 million people in this country who are disabled. The question is how we target the resources. The Minister of State, Deputy Rabbitte, continues to consult the sector. The findings from the Green Paper will be taken into consideration at the Cabinet committee. As I said, it meets regularly. I know the Taoiseach is committed to dealing with this issue. I am happy to do all that I…

My Department makes several payments to people over the age of 66.  One of these is the State pension contributory, which has a number of qualifying criteria, including having a minimum of 520 paid social insurance contributions.  Where a person meets the qualifying criteria, the rate of payment is calculated based on the number of contributions paid and credited. As the actuarial value of the State pension contributory is currently estimated at approximately €380,000, it is reasonable to require people claiming a …

To be fair, we have made changes. We have the long-term carer's contribution scheme. That will make it easier for long-term carers of an incapacitated person or people to qualify for the State pension. If someone has been caring for somebody for 20 years or more, the credits will be allowed towards their pension. I think that is an improvement. There are the family caring periods. There have been many changes over the years to try to help people to qualify for the State pension. The basis is that you have to have t…

If you go below the 520 contributions, the actual pension you would get would be in the region of just over €30. That is how it works. There is always room for improvement. There is no doubt about that. I agree with Deputy Durkan on that. I have brought in many improvements to the pension system. I have kept the pension age at 66 and allowed the flexibility for people to work to 70. They can build up those credits if they are short, so they can get a minimum pension and the pension for long-term carers, which is im…

Here is the Minister of State. Saved by the bell.

I move: "That the Bill be now read a Second Time." I was delighted in recent weeks to bring the long-awaited auto-enrolment legislation through the Dáil. It is an historic piece of work that will benefit 800,000 workers who currently have no occupational pension. Today, I am bringing forward legislation for another landmark reform of our social welfare system in the form of pay-related benefit. At the moment, if people who have worked hard for 20 years suddenly lose their job, they will receive the same rate of une…

No, they are not my bosses.

I thank Deputies for their contributions. The introduction of the new pay-related jobseeker's benefit is a major reform of how we support jobseekers in Ireland and will bring us in line with our European neighbours. Pay-related benefit will provide a greater support to people who lose their jobs and find themselves in the position of dealing with that income shock while continuing to meet their financial commitments. We all know that this can be a distressing experience for people and the new benefit will offer a g…

That works out at about €46.80 per annum, which is an increase of about 0.1%. In September 2021, Sinn Féin's leader, Deputy Mary-Lou McDonald, said the party would increase PRSI by 4%. That is much more than the total of 0.7% I am proposing over five years. I will quote Sinn Féin's leader. She said, "Our proposal is, over the course of a number of budgets, to bring employer PRSI up by about 4pc." Deputy McDonald also said, "That still means that we are well below the European average and in or about the global aver…

I think I would be right on this one.

Sinn Féin promises everything, but somebody else will have to pay for it. That is essentially what Sinn Féin is saying.

In response to Deputy Naughten, the vast majority of carers are women. I provided a pension to carers. Female participation in the workforce has never been higher and I absolutely want more women back working. I launched the updated Pathways to Work strategy just this Tuesday. There is a significant focus on helping to get people back to work. Regarding the poverty and gender impact analysis, the legislation provides a framework for the scheme and contains regulation-making power to support the policy development a…

It is a pleasure to be able to bring this Bill before Seanad Éireann. I have been very encouraged by the support it has received from across the political spectrum and from stakeholders. Auto-enrolment, AE, has been talked about for more than 25 years in this country. There was a major straw man public consultation on it in 2018. This was followed by a series of Government decisions between 2019 and this year that settled the design of the system. Last week, the Bill was passed by Dáil Eireann with no changes to th…

I thank the Senators for their contributions. I will address the issues that have been raised in the time I have. Senator Burke asked about a review of the Bill. Section 43 provides for a detailed review every five years. He and Senator McDowell both raised the issue of the cost to employers. This scheme will be brought in gradually over ten years and the 6% will not kick in until ten years have passed. Gradually, we are going to increase contributions. In the first year, it will be 1.5% of gross wages. That will b…

We are not proposing any changes to that. I will clarify that with the Senator.

I am glad to announce I have approval from Cabinet for the pay-related jobseeker's payment. I think that is a step in the right direction. It is to protect people so they will not have a cliff edge drop in their income if they are unfortunate enough to lose their job. I will start to bring that legislation through the Dáil this evening. I take the Deputy's point about the particular people who are laid off during the summer months and will outline those issues when I address the Dáil later.

I will be clear on it. I do not want to give the Senator the wrong answer. Again, all funds will be pooled for investment. Each person will not have their own investment fund. That is not what will happen. I think that is a misunderstanding by Mr. Fagan and Mr. Kenny. I thank the Senators for their contributions. I hope I have addressed them as best as I can. I will provide clarification on that issue.